KONGSBERG MARITIME
TORFINN KILDAL, PRESIDENT

Combined with the acquisition of Sense Intellifield, this burgeoning business situation caused Kongsberg Maritime to hire 653 new employees in 2007. The recruitment of new co-workers has augmented the aggregate expertise in Kongsberg Maritime, both in Norway and abroad. The labour markets are characterised by keen competition. We have maintained and further developed our existing competence, and secured access to more comprehensive new expertise. Our point of departure is a good platform for continued positive trends.

The company fortified its position in the oil and gas market in 2007. Our emphasis on supplying products and systems to optimise drilling and production processes has brought positive results. The acquisition of Sense Intellifield has given us a clearer identity profile in the area of integrated operations for the oil and gas industry. We will further develop this image in 2008.

In the field of floating production, we have, for example, signed contracts for process automation systems for production vessels for the Skarv and Gjøa oil and gas fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Our international process simulation and optimisation activities expanded and we won market shares in 2007.

Kongsberg Maritime has built up a presence in important markets in East Asia, where we have expanded operations significantly, including project implementation, customer support and production.

One important aspect of our strategy is to develop the Group's activities in close cooperation with our customers. This philosophy has contributed to our strong positions in Asia. Meanwhile, we have also set up operations in India. This site will serve the growing local offshore market and be a resource centre for software programming for some of our other businesses.

We have upheld our strong market positions in manoeuvring and automation systems for purpose-built vessels and rigs. Improvement programmes are proceeding as planned, and have led to efficiency improvements. Despite a strong increase on delivery work, we have maintained our strong emphasis on research and development.

Subsea activities have long traditions in hydroacoustics and strong basic technologies which are applied in different market segments. The demand for acoustic positioning systems and emergency communications systems for 'Blow out Preventers' for drilling operations increased substantially in 2007. This is also true of the demand for advanced subsea systems, e.g. autonomous underwater vehicles and multi-beam echosounders.